A Greg Abbott rewrite to the Constitution

Gov. Greg Abbott wants to take a hard look at amending the U.S. Constitution.

Gov. Greg Abbott wants to take a hard look at amending the U.S. Constitution.

Photo: Tim Fischer, Photographer

Photo: Tim Fischer, Photographer

Image
1of/1

Caption

Close

Image 1 of 1

Gov. Greg Abbott wants to take a hard look at amending the U.S. Constitution.

Gov. Greg Abbott wants to take a hard look at amending the U.S. Constitution.

Photo: Tim Fischer, Photographer

A Greg Abbott rewrite to the Constitution

1 / 1

Back to Gallery

The Constitution's framers, James Madison in particular, made a promise to the first generation of U.S. citizens about how their proposed new federal government would work in the future.

"Each of the principal branches of the federal government will owe its existence more or less to the favor of the state governments, and must consequently feel a dependence," Madison wrote about the balance of power.

Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday, holding up that particular essay by Madison, told a raucous crowd of conservative activists that that deal had gone belly up. At the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s policy symposium in Austin, he repeated crowd-pleasing lines bashing the federal government – and then went further than he ever has, proposing nine amendments to the Constitution and urging the formation of a state convention to approve them.

However, given the legislative super-majorities required to adopt any amendment, it's incredibly difficult to rewrite the country's governing document.

Nevertheless, Abbott's proposed amendments, which would require 34 states to request a convention and then 38 states to approve any amendment, include:

Prohibit Congress from regulating activity that occurs wholly within one State.

Require Congress to balance its budget.

Prohibit administrative agencies — and the un-elected bureaucrats that staff them — from creating federal law.

Prohibit administrative agencies — and the un-elected bureaucrats that staff them — from preempting state law.

Allow a two-thirds majority of the states to override a U.S. Supreme Court decision.

Require a seven-justice super-majority vote for U.S. Supreme Court decisions that invalidate a democratically enacted law.

Restore the balance of power between the federal and state governments by limiting the former to the powers expressly delegated to it in the Constitution.

Give state officials the power to sue in federal court when federal officials overstep their bounds.

Allow a two-thirds majority of the states to override a federal law or regulation.

The announcement puts Abbott not just well within in the mainstream of Republican governors, but at the forefront of a growing dialogue on the right ever since they lost two consecutive presidential elections. Maybe Abbott and the other governors, like former Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana and Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin, wouldn't push so hard to amend the Constitution if a Democrat wasn't in the White House, but here we are.

Abbott drew effusive praise from Texas Republicans after his speech, and the news made its way to the national stage rather quickly. Democrats derided it as “tea party nonsense.” All of which amounts to a measured political win for Abbott, not only bolstering the conversation around amending the Constitution but boosting his influence among his supporters. He made it clear that he would urge state lawmakers to take up the issue when they meet in 2017 and, hopefully, prompt White House hopefuls to comment on his plan.

It has already provided ample fodder in the Republican primary. In December, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio endorsed the idea of a constitutional convention, specifically mentioning amendments to require a balanced budget and to set term limits for members of Congress.

"One of the things I'm going to do on my first day in office is I will put the prestige and power of the presidency behind a constitutional convention of the states," Rubio said in Iowa.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson are behind it. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, in 2014, proposed a constitutional amendment "to prevent the federal government or the courts from attacking or striking down state marriage laws," and has repeatedly left the door open to a convention.

"And if Congress will not act, passing the constitutional amendments needed to correct this lawlessness, then the movement from the people for an Article V Convention of the States — to propose the amendments directly — will grow stronger and stronger," Cruz wrote in the National Review last year.

Even so-called establishment Republican Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who has come under intense scrutiny from the GOP's activist base, has backed a balanced budget amendment via a constitutional convention.

Overall, Abbott’s announcement was a big win for tea party-bred activists who have tried for years to get major state and federal politicians to endorse the convention idea publicly. In 2013, they kicked off the initiative at -- where else? -- near George Washington's home at Mount Vernon, welcoming about 100 legislators from 32 states to talk about how they could form a convention of states.

"If it starts to become a serious presidential issue, we could get it done in 2016," Mark Meckler, the president of Citizens for Self-Governance, a group leading the cause, told The Washington Times late last year.

The idea is now, arguably, as mainstream in today's Republican Party as tax cuts are, and Abbott did more than his part on Friday to help the cause.